Visionary’ to visit Green Roundtable

Local lunch talks entering 11th year

An economic expert who one publication referred to as one of “25 visionaries who are changing your world” highlights the remainder of the fall series of Green Business Roundtable lunch talks.

The three upcoming talks will focus on how to avoid destructive economics; an overview of smart use of business resources; and the city of Durango’s new single-stream waste recycling that will start with the new year.

The lunch series, which started its 11th year in September, has a fall and a spring series of four talks each, bringing together people and businesses interested in environmental issues.

The talks are held on the second Wednesday of the month. They begin at noon at the Strater Hotel and cost $15. The next three talks will feature:

Wednesday: Woody Tasch, the founder and chairman of Slow Money, a nonprofit formed in 2008 to bring a flow of capital to small food enterprises and promote fiduciary responsibility.

In 2010, Utne Reader named Tasch one of “25 visionaries” changing your world. Tasch is the author of Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money: Investing as if Food, Farms and Fertility Mattered.

Nov. 14: Amanda Saunders of Four Corners Office for Resource Efficiency will describe a resource-smart business program funded through a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to La Plata County.

4CORE and six partners – La Plata Electric Association, Local First, Southwest Connect, Healthy Life Styles La Plata, the environmental center at Fort Lewis College and Bright Green, a sustainability consultant, are going to teach businesses how to become more efficient in energy use, workplace wellness and sustainability.

Dec. 12: Mary Beth Miles, sustainability coordinator for the city of Durango, will introduce what residents can expect from single-stream recycling.

All recyclable waste, with the exception of glass, will go into the same container. Now, paperboard and all plastics will be accepted.